Working On a Ph.D in iPod

From what I can tell, just about every pre-teen on my street and every other Baby Boomer between where I work and where I drink my espresso has an iPod. Which is no surprise, considering that Apple has sold more than 67 million of the buggers. And that's not counting accessories ranging from car chargers and docking stations, to iTunes debit cards and camera connectors.

So with adolescent experts on every street corner, not to mention the legions of usability engineers Apple employed to design ease-of-use into the device, you'd think the last thing we need is third-party help in how to listen to songs like the Trailer Park Troubadours' classic "It Ain't Home ('Til You Take the Wheels Off)". But help we have, and I don't necessarily mean books like O'Reilly and Associates' iPod: The Missing Manual, or iPod and iTunes for Dummies.

Instead, the latest is online training for how to use an iPod. That's right. Makau Corporation has created an entry-level video-based training course to teach people how to use their iPods. In partnership with the Grapevine Talk Radio Network, the Makau iPod training is facilitated by talk-radio personality Geoff Power course modules cover how to install iTunes, music, photos, and video clips to your iPod and how to customize your iPod's settings for maximum satisfaction. The courses also cover more in-depth topics such as how to use the iTunes store to purchase media, the extra features of iPod, and more.

The real good news is that Makau's iPod training is offered free of cost as a means of introducing people to the e-learning company's upcoming offerings of Desktop Training titles for purchase and playback via the iPod with Video. If I were a betting fool, I might wager that the instructors are all under 16-years old, and the students all over 50-years of age. But I'd probably lose that bet, along with most others.

So if you're frustrated with your iPod and would like to shove it somewhere else other than Steve Job's ear, check out Makau's class which commences on January 12, 2007.

Which reminds me. I'll probably be in iPod overload right about that time, as I leave for India the next day to participate in Dr. Dobb's SD Best Practices India. Chicago, to Frankfurt, to Hyderabad. Yes, iPod and the Trailer Park Troubadours will certainly get a workout on that trip.

Posted by Jon Erickson at 03:53 PM  Permalink